The defining characteristics of arthropods include the presence of an exoskeleton, jointed appendages, and a body composed of specialized regional segments. The four medically significant classes of arthropods are Chilopoda, Diplopoda, Insecta, and Arachnida. Of these, the insects and the arachnids have the greatest clinical impact on humans. The members to each of four classes are as follows:
- Chilopoda: centipedes
- Diplopoda: millipedes
- Insecta: Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, hornets and fire ants), mosquitoes, bedbugs, fleas, lice, kissing bugs
- Arachnids: spiders, scorpions, mites, and ticks
Diseases associated with specific arthropods include:
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Ticks: Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, relapsing fever, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, tularemia
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Flies: tularemia, leishmaniasis, African trypanosomiasis, bartonellosis, loiasis
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Fleas: plague, tularemia, murine typhus
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Chigger mites: scrub typhus
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Body lice: epidemic typhus, relapsing fever
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Kissing bugs: Chagas disease
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Mosquitoes: malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, West Nile virus, Japanese encephalitis, chikungunya, Zika virus
